Friday, 31 January 2014

The commemorative plaque at the site of the old 21’s Coffee bar in Soho, marking the birthplace of British Rock’n’Roll, has
returned! After an absence of several weeks, it’s now back in its rightful
place and you can see it today on the Rock’n’Roll London Walk at 2:00pm…

And here's Wee Willie Harris Rockin' At The 2 I's, packed with glorious, irredeemably British linguistic ticks – waiting for buses and eating one's tea – jostling for space alongside such Americanisms as "chick". A great period piece…

And here’s our own Rock’n’Roll London video…

REMEMBER: The Rock’n’Roll London Pub walk will return every Wednesday night
at 7:00pm from the 5th February 2014…

THE ROCK’N’ROLL LONDON PUB WALK! EVERY
WEDNESDAY NIGHT MEETING AT TOTTENHAM COURT ROAD STATION
(EXIT 3).

Join the Rock’n'Roll London Walk on
Friday at 2pm, meeting at Tottenham Court Road Station (Exit 3) –
to book a Private Walk call 020 7642 3978 or email london@walks.com

A
London Walk costs £9 – £7 concession. To join a London Walk, simply meet your
guide at the designated tube station at the appointed time. Details of all
London Walks can be found at www.walks.com.

Thursday, 30 January 2014

We wouldn't be without our cats as they are
the only effective mouse deterrent. We know that all our neighbours have been
plagued by mice but we've never had any trouble at all. We have three cats and
here's a picture of our oldest one, Patch.

She came to us as a rescue cat in 2008 with
the RSPCA ensuring us that she had been neutered. Obviously hadn't been because
within 6 months one cat had become four! And if you don't know anything about
cat fertility we can attest to the fact that they get pregnant immediately
after giving birth so six months later
3 more kittens arrived.

All were found good homes and we still have
one of them - Mole - with us plus another rescue kitten - Pepper - who arrived
about 7 years ago.

Patch is now getting on in cat years, is
very deaf, has arthritis which makes jumping and climbing difficult and warmth
is her favourite thing so she'll be found as close to a radiator as possible or
- even better - on top of the Sky box.

In this position she can change the channel
at will which means you have to make sure you are recording a programme at the
same time as watching it because the programme will disappear and you'll be
given the Shopping Channel just as the murderer is going to be uncovered or the
goal is being scored. Our son has
now used his GCSE Technology experience (knew it had to be good for something)
to rig up a device that stops this happening whilst ensuring the cat stays
warm!

Kim

Kim, who has worked in the House of Commons
and the European Parliament, is another 24-carat Blue Badge Guide: she won the
London Tourist Board's Guide of the Year award in 2001.

A
London Walk costs £10 – £8 concession. To join a London Walk, simply meet your
guide at the designated tube station at the appointed time. Details of all
London Walks can be found at www.walks.com.

1. At the Chinese New Year, children
receive gifts of red envelopes full of money. Tradition states that the amount
should be an even number, but never an amount divisible by four: four
symbolizes death.

2. The Westminster Chinese Library, housed
within the Charing Cross Library, has a collection of over 50,000 Chinese books.

3. Limehouse in East London was the
original Chinatown.

4. The area of Soho known as Chinatown
boasts over 80 restaurants.

5. Musical Chinatown: Ronnie Scott’s Jazz
Club began its existence in Chinatown in the basement of no. 39 Gerrard Street.
Led Zeppelin had their first rehearsal in Gerrard Street. Only no one can
remember where… (join us on the Rock'n'Roll London Walk every Friday).

6. Chinese people constitute the fourth
largest Asian group in London numbering around 115,000.

7. This year is The Year of the Horse.
Notable London foundations in the Year of the Horse include:

The Gielgud Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue
(est. 1906 as the Hicks Theatre)

The Royal Air Force (at the Hotel Cecil
1918)

Equity, the actors’ trade union (1931)

Waterloo Bridge (partially opened 1942)

The Troubadour Coffee House (Old Brompton
Road – still going strong!)

The Jimi Hendrix Experience (founded in
London 1966)

8. Eight tasty London ways to celebrate the New Year courtesy of Zagat.com.

(More London Lists soon…)

A
London Walk costs £9 – £7 concession. To join a London Walk, simply meet your
guide at the designated tube station at the appointed time. Details of all
London Walks can be found at www.walks.com.

As regular readers will know, we've been using pedometers and step-counting devices this January to measure some of our London Walks. Last week on Ghosts of the Old City we counted 2,595 steps and burned 108 calories. See earlier post HERE. Then we had a look at the mapping facility on our iSteps app. And the route looked like this…

…and we couldn't help but notice that the outline left on the map looked a little like a profile of Frankenstein's monster. Don't see it? How about this, then…

The Monday Photoblog!Monday is mute on The Daily Constitutional (well, almost mute) – because Monday is the day when we post five images captured in and around London by London Walks Guides and London Walkers.Collated on a theme or an area, if you've got some great shots of our capital and want to join in send your pictures to the usual address.

A very pleasant surprise last Monday, while walking the Capital Ring on a day off, was to stumble upon the London Motorcycle Museum.

Even for a non-petrol head such as I, this modest museum at South Greenford, was a treasure. And a great welcome, too.

The museum has no funding, and is run by a dedicated bunch whose classic British motorbikes form the bulk of the collection. Entry is £5 and a cup of tea is free – although they do ask for a donation for Cancer Research.

As I said, nice guys – the museum is unfunded yet instead of raising money for themselves they're doing it for others.

POST UPDATED 13/4/16A London Walk costs £10 – £8 concession. To join a London Walk, simply meet your guide at the designated tube station at the appointed time. Details of all London Walks can be found at www.walks.com.